We are Fusion String Ensemble!

KADAR QIAN, MUSIC DIRECTOR + CONDUCTOR

Fusion String Ensemble was formed in the summer of 2007 to fulfill the needs of advanced amateur and semi-professional musicians to provide quality performances of classical repertoire, world and contemporary popular music. Our programs are unique by infusing popular music with standards to connect with a new generation.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Elgar finished the piece in July 1888, when he was engaged to be married to Caroline Alice Roberts, and he called it "Liebesgruss" ('Love’s Greeting') because of her fluency in German. When he returned home to London on September 22 from a holiday at the house of his friend Dr. Charles Buck, in Settle, North Yorkshire, he presented it to her as an engagement present.

Concertino pour Flûte, Op.107

Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)

This piece was composed in 1902 for flute and orchestra and was commissioned by the Paris Conservatoire in 1902, presumably as an examination piece for flute students. Among flautists, legend has it that Chaminade wrote the Concertino to punish a flute-playing lover after he left her to marry someone else, wanting to make a piece so fiendishly difficult that he could not play it (though he supposedly did manage). However, Chaminade had married a music publisher the year before the piece was commissioned, which lessens the validity of the legend.

Viola Concerto in G major, TWV 51:G9

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681- 1767)

Of Georg Philipp Telemann's surviving concertos, this piece is among his most famous, and still regularly performed today. It is the first known concerto for viola, was written circa 1716–1721 and contains four movements.

Symphony for Strings Opus 118a from String Quartet No. 10

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 10 in A-flat major, op. 118, was composed in 1964. It was premiered by the Beethoven Quartet and is dedicated to his close friend Mieczysław (Moisei) Weinberg. We are performing just the first movement of the string quartet arrangement.

Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, BWV 1060

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Neither the date of composition nor of the first performance is known. This concerto was originally written for solo violin and oboe, with string orchestra and continuo; the only surviving score, however, is of Bach’s own arrangement as a concerto for two harpsichords.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

At the young age of four, Kadar Qian began to learn the piano, inspired by his older brother, Kevin. After starting lessons, his grandmother would reward him with chocolate every time he played well. Twelve years later, he has given over one hundred concerts in the U.S. and China in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, and Sanders Theatre. At the age of eleven, he debuted as a soloist with the Quincy Symphony Orchestra performing Chopin’s Concerto No. 2, and at the age of fifteen, he debuted with the Boston Pops performing Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 3. All together, he has appeared as a soloist over 10 times with orchestras such as the Boston Civic Symphony, Boston Landmarks, Cape Ann Symphony, Melrose Symphony, Merrimack Valley Philharmonic, Metrowest Symphony, Lowell Philharmonic, Rivers Symphony, and the Salem Philharmonic.

Qian claimed first prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, receiving special prizes for the Best Bach Performance and the Best Chopin Performance. He was also a prizewinner at the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition as well as the MostArts International Piano Competition. In addition, he was also the first prize winner of the Harvard Musical Association High School Achievement Award and the Steinway Society of Massachusetts piano competition. For the past three years, he has been a recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States Scholarship. Qian has won many Young Artist Competitions, including the Boston Civic, Boston Pops, Lowell, Metrowest, Quincy, and Rivers Young Artist Competitions. He was heard performing on NPR’s From the Top , and in 2013, he released his first album for Naxos Records.

Kadar studies piano with Angel Ramón Rivera at the New England Conservatory Prep School and the Rivers School Conservatory. He also studies conducting with Yoichi Udagawa and is currently the Assistant Conductor of the Melrose Symphony Orchestra. Since June 2014, he has been the music director and conductor of the Fusion String Ensemble. A high honor roll student at Westford Academy, Kadar strives to make a difference in the community as the president of his class. A huge fan of Apple products, Kadar also enjoys programming and math.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Clinton Dewing received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School as a student of Joel Smirnoff. His summer festivals credits include the Spoleto Festival USA and Italy, Festival Mozaic, Pacific Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center. He has performed with the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Clinton is currently a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s violin section since 2006.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

A native of the Republic of Moldova, Aurelia Duca began the violin at age of seven. She has taken First Prize in the Cornelia Bronzetti violin competition and the International Violin Competition of Brasov. Ms. Duca was the Grand Prize winner at the Paul Constantinescu International Competition in Romania. She was awarded the Mayor’s Scholarship of Chisinau, Moldova and the prestigious scholarship from the Foundation of Beneficence. Ms. Duca has performed in solo engagements with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the National Philharmonic of Chisinau and the National Youth Orchestra in Holland and studied at the A. Casella Conservatory in l’Aquilla, Italy. She has participated in The Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and she is featured in Festival Mozaic’s chamber music series in San Luis Obispo, California every summer. In 2006 Ms. Duca joined the violin section of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Rebecca Arnold is sixteen years old and is an incoming Senior at Westford Academy in Westford, Massachusetts. She has been playing flute since the age of nine. Currently, she takes private lessons with Shan Liu and also studies at the Boston Flute Academy. Rebecca is a member of the New England Conservatory Youth Symphony under the direction of Steven Karidoyanes. This summer, she traveled to Ireland and Northern Ireland with the orchestra and performed in the cities of Galway, Dublin and Derry. This is Rebecca’s second year as a member of the Westford Academy Theater Arts Pit, which was awarded best student pit orchestra by the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild in 2014. She has been accepted into the MA Eastern Senior Districts band and orchestra, as well as the Massachusetts All-State Orchestra. Rebecca is very excited to have been given the opportunity to perform with the Fusion String Ensemble.